Like the comic book characters who inspired them, the BoxingWatchers are dedicated to observe all of the biggest fights the sweet science has to offer. With no insider access to the sport, they record what they've seen here. The BoxingWatchers are passionate fans who pledge to bring you intelligent opinions, predictions, reviews and commentary.

8.12.09

Sometimes there isn't much movement in the power rankings from month to month, but that shouldn't be the case in the first part of 2010. That's because nearly everyone on our list has a fight lined up between now and early April of next year.

That's great for boxing fans, because it means the most successful (and supposedly best) fighters are staying active. And our formula likes it when you stay active, provided you win your fights, of course. More insight here.

On to the December rankings...

1. Arthur Abraham - 26.13 - Abraham continues to be King until someone dethrones him. Could that someone be Andre Dirrell? We'll find out in March.

2. Juan Manuel Lopez - 19.23 - Juanma seems to still be on track for a showdown with Yuriorkis Gamboa. They will both fight on the same card again in January, but neither man's opponent should be a pushover.

3. Manny Pacquiao - 18.99 - Pac Man has the world at his feet right now, but he's in for his greatest challenge ever soon enough. That's because he's all but signed to face Floyd Mayweather in a little fight you may have heard about.

4. Celestino Caballero - 17.08 - I accidentally miscalculated Caballero's score last month, so he didn't come from nowhere to take this spot. My bad!

5. Wladimir Klitschko - 17.07 - Wlad just keeps cruising along. His next foe Eddie Chambers has skills and heart, but Klitschko's size and power should be the difference... again.

6. Lucian Bute - 17.03 - People may be getting a little carried away calling Bute the top super middleweight in the world when Abraham and Andre Ward have been looking so good. Still, there's no doubt that his KO of Librado Andrade was impressive.

7. Nonito Donaire - 16.60 - Donaire returns to action in February against Gerson Guerrero. I'm not even going to pretend I know who that is.

8. Kelly Pavlik - 15.97 - The Ghost's forgettable year is almost behind him. He finally returns to action in less than two weeks, but it's tough to see many people outside Youngstown caring about his fight with Miguel Espino.

9. Felix Sturm - 15.75 - On the other hand, maybe if Pavlik continues to have trouble making fights that matter, Sturm will end up fighting him. That would be alright with me.

10. Fernando Montiel - 15.39 - I can usually think of something brief to say about anyone in the top 10, but I've got nothing here.